Changing bands and changing tones

[TheVoiceless]

Hey guys,

I wanted to see what other players experiences where if they ever joined a new band that was not their usual style. I will use me as the example. I was in a funk/jazz groove rock band. Now I am in a Heavy metal band with some hard rock elements.

I found that I totally and to re-think my playing style and tone. First my old band played in drop D standard. The new band uses drop C ( C,G,C,F) For the old band I was going for a crisp even tone since it was a 3 piece. Now I am going for a low end growl/less dynamic. We also used a ton of effects in the old band. At one point I had a 14 piece pedal board and used all of them. Now I have stripped down to just a compressor.


It felt like I had to totally re-learn everything I was taught. My last bands drummer played on the back beat always. My new drummer is always on the up.

I could keep going but I would like to hear someone else's experience.

Thanks!!!

[MatticusMania]

Yeah, I was playing in 2 bands at the same time. The first, my main band, was a 2 piece experimental outfit with a drummer/sampler and myself on bass & vocals. I used a custom pedalboard with loopers and lots of effects. Then my friend that played guitar put together a band so I told him I'd play bass. I didnt want to overcomplicate the garage rock, 2 guitars thing. So I plugged straight into my amp, and kept my basslines fairly simple. The when we acquired a thrash drummer he added a whole new dynamic to the music. About that time I started to step up my playing and took the garage rock sound to entirely new heights.

[dave64o]

Doing something different from what you were doing before sounds like a great way to expand your abilities, not to mention bring some unique perspective to your new project. I'd say it's a win-win since both you and your new band can benefit.

[The Golden Boy]

For years I was just a straight ahead rock and roll kind of guy.

Yes, that can mean a lot of things to a lot of different people. For whatever it's worth, we'll call "Zeppelin" "Rock and roll."

Around the turn of the century, a friend asked me to fill in for a nu-metal band. It was totally not my thing. I listed to them, sat in on a rehearsal- I figured I'd have to work around me not being interested in the music, and it being REALLY different from what I was used to playing. My theory was to go into it and work it like Tom Petersson would do it. They were happy with it. I dealt with it for a couple of years, and I couldn't handle it any longer.

More recently, I took a gig in a Rolling Stones "tribute" band. I figured it would be a total milk run. The thing about the Stones, it seems so simple, it seems so... easy. The thing about that gig is playing what needs to be there for it to still have that Stones feel. I think most any bass player can find some more "interesting" things to play than what Wyman played a lot of the time. But the key is what actually makes the song sound like the song. It's not virtuosity, it's all about judgement. Every time I play those songs, I'm constantly fighting my urge to play something "different" or "better." To me, that's the hardest part about doing that stuff- the discipline to do it right. Learning those songs was really learning the concept of "space."

[Mike Money]

i just have one kick ass tone.